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July Finds 2015

Thus spake the great philosopher Bono, describing with uncanny accuracy the tightrope of emotions we must all walk when deciding whether to be the last in any month to post our finds or the first in the new month....usually I'm amongst the former, watching on helplessly as the descriptions over which I so painstakingly laboured, eager to please my fellow VGplussers, dance momentarily in the breeze, perhaps considered for a moment by the faithful few before being dashed by time's cruel wind to the furthest corners of oblivion.

And so I beseech you my friends, before we go on - take a moment, just a moment to look at the last page of the June finds and ask yourselves - have I read this page? Have I considered the full significance of these finds? Have I shown due respect to the contributor?.....you have? HEY!, well great - let's kick off July then....yeeeeeeehaw!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, these finds are not from July, they're from June.......what's that I hear? 'Well why didn't you post them in the June Finds section then, GC?' - haha, what do you think I am....some kinda LOSER?....Bono?....he can kiss my arse!!!!

A - hem....to begin....one you may have seen already.....

A 2 X Single-sided test pressing of the 1970 UK release of Bill Evans' 'Alone' (see 'Jazz Fans - What's Going On Here?' for the full yarn) - only the second recording (I think) on which Bill played unaccompanied, and a superb example of his improvisational skills as he takes on standards like 'On A Clear Day', 'Here's That Rainy Day' and other non-weather related tunes....(I think I got away with 'test pressing' schtick, guys...)

Kiki Dee - 'Perfect Timing' - bought because I happen to like the two singles that came from this, 'Star' and the title track, 'Perfect Timing', originally written and recorded by Kit Hain (of 'Dancing In The City' fame.) Kiki's version is way better though, largely due to Pip Williams' great production with lots of unexpected clicks, bangs and glitchy noises - and although I may have mentioned it before on here, despite the band's military precision in following the metronomic concept at the heart of the song, their page is blotted towards the end by an audibly bad edit. A heroic failure indeed. Albums like this also serve to remind me of the flipside of post-punkness, questions that arose in the early 80's like 'whatever happened to Patrick Moraz, formerly of Yes, and what price his synthesiser virtuosity now?'...Oh and it's also on Music For Pleasure....

Uncredited Flexidisc - 'The Third Way'

A strange and somewhat bizarre parable concerning three tulip bulbs in the bottom of a rusty bucket considering the meaning of it all - each has it's view on the big questions in life, but it's only the one that cries out for help that is heard by God the gardener who brings it to full bloom in eternal life....does rather gloss over the bit about being shovelled over with dirt and being fed a whole load of s**t though...

Kenny Lynch - 'You Can Never Stop Me Loving You'/'Crazy Crazes' - So so A side, but the flip side, a tale of how Kenny's squeeze has started to devote more of her time to newfangled dance crazes than to him at least grooves along in a sort of stilted proto mod manner. Am I the only one here who remembers Kenny and his mate Harry Fowler on the 'Goin' A Bundle' TV show?...yeah, now that was kids tv....

Mike Harding - 'Disco Vampire' - I once had the pleasure of having a pint with Mr H, and a very nice fellow he is - mind you he never mentioned this particular skeleton in his closet....sounds like the backing track was being played at a party a few doors down while Mike was recording his vocal....still, it does feature the line 'when the haemoglobbin comes throb-throb-throbbin' along...'

The Johnny Johnson Orchestra - 'Saturday Night' - Nice bit of sixties ephemera, a promotional disc for the tailors John Collier ('the window to watch!') imploring you with the sweetener of a jaunty tune (and Brian Matthew) to buy your Saturday Night Suit from them (from £10/19/6!) - great cover design too!

Ray Pilgrim - 'Yeh Yeh' - I was recently in Leigh, birthplace of Georgie Fame, wondering why in 30 years of living in Greater Manchester, I had never once noticed the burghers of the town crowing about this fact. Just then, I came upon a modest banner draped on a civic building in tribute to a Georgie Fame homecoming concert and accompanied by the legend 'Believe In Leigh!' - well evidently somebody didn't because in a nearby junk shop I happened on this budget cover version by Ray Pilgrim which frankly isn't very good. Just as a point of historical fact, Leigh was also home to 'The Rats'...no not those Rats and no; not those Rats either...this was the Rats with a live repertoire that included a couple of great rhythm and blues numbers later recorded by ...Georgie Fame...coincidence?...I'll keep you posted if nearby Pemberton organises a homecoming concert by Limahl...

The New Vaudeville Band - 'The Bonnie & Clyde' - I like songs about Bonnie & Clyde (even Georgie Fame's) and I find it hard to resist an old blur Fontana label - New Vaudeville Band?...hmmm... heart said yes, brain said no....must remember to listen to brain more often...

and finally....

Band Y Medelwyr - Twmpath Dawns (Welsh Barn Dances) A rather nice collection of 'jigs, hornpipes, marches and waltzes' - the band's name is translated into English variously as The Reapers or The Gleaners - a shame there's a tear in the front of the sleeve because this is a nice little package and it even has a little booklet to give you a bit of background. Oh, I know what you're asking.....

WHAT'S THE WELSH CONNECTION?

Well, apart from being an album by Man, it seems these songs were featured in the Welsh television (TWW) series 'Twmpath Dawns' - Pat Shaw, the accordionist and leader of the band discovered his interest in Welsh folk music 'during an early visit to North Wales and again later when he was living in Cardiff.' So we know he'd been to Wales at least twice (presumably he 'lived there' while he made the programme.)

Still, it's easy to sneer isn't it? - we forget that time just after the war when folk music and it's followers were little more than social pariahs, their passions misunderstood and seen by the rest of society as deviant behaviour, on a par with homosexuality or heroin addiction. Even in these sleeve notes, Pat Shaw's mother is still euphemistically referred to as 'a friend of Cecil Sharp'....

I remember Kenny Lynch from 'Mooncat' and some cheesy Guinness records show called 'That's Amazing' or I could have dreamt up both of those, its hazy. I do know a guy who used to do session work in the 50's and 60's, a sax player, lets just say he does not speak that fondly of Mr Lynch.

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Mike Harding - 'Disco Vampire' - I once had the pleasure of having a pint with Mr H, and a very nice fellow he is - mind you he never mentioned this particular skeleton in his closet....sounds like the backing track was being played at a party a few doors down while Mike was recording his vocal....still, it does feature the line 'when the haemoglobbin comes throb-throb-throbbin' along...'

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Bought a stack of 25 for 60 quid at the record fair last Sunday. A few of them here, though I haven't made a jpeg of my personal pick of the bunch Charles Hodges 'Charles' Shing A Ling', might add it later.Was just lamenting to Shades of Derek the day before that my 45 mojo was waning, so satisfying to grip these.

record licker

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A real hotch-potch of vinyl finds the past few days, a few of which I bought for the covers alone, for example

It's hard to tell if this sleeve was touched up to make the players look scarier than they probably already were
but there is an unsettling look on their faces that says yes, I could break your collarbone just like that if I wanted to!

Equally unsettling but perhaps for different reasons is this comedy album from 1983 features a young-ish
Angus Deayton and musical director Philip Pope who went on to do Who's Line Is It Anyway? and The Fast Show etc.

Less wacky than the BBC comedy album, this features the talents of both Rolf Harris and Slim Dusty.

Great gatefold sleeve for this French album by Francoise Hardy released in 1970

some nice themed 7"s

A bit of an oddity this one, featuring clips of the Radio Caroline DJ
going through his paces, released in 1969 probably through mail-order.

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I visited my mother who lives in a small town up north. I usually try to visit on a Saturday as that's when the pentecostal church charity shop is open a few hours. Easily the best charity shop in the game, low prices and amazing stock turnover. Pentecostal church is dominant in that town, and ringing up my goods at the till was none less than the mayor. There's even entertainment as you shop, provided by an old man playing easy listening and gospell on Hammond organ.
Usually the "resident gripper" catches most of the stuff, but he was not around, so a small haul for me, yay!Niels Skousen - Herfra hvor vi står - Danish proggy from 1971 with long meandering songs. No jamouts and umpteen verses in some songs but I have to admit it sucks you in. Drummer Björn Uglebjerg was the first drummer of Gasolin, pillar of Danish rock.Freda Payne - Contact Solid soul album, can't say anything bad about it.Rick Nelson - Rudy the fifth Country rock in the Johnny Rivers 70s style. I had higher hopes for this.Nilsson - Aerial Ballet I wanted this for some time, glorious pop.
and a solid Marvin Gaye comp filling that big hole I have.
£5 for this batch

When I returned to my mother's house I saw her neighbor who runs an antique/vinyl shop in the basement (which never is open) was having a clearout in the yard. He had a couple of crates at 20p a record. I grabbed 6 and then had a look in his basement. The priced stuff was not that interesting, mostly metal and basic 60s records but in one of the £1 boxes I found Michel Polnareff's debut in really good shape (top right). Listening to it I'm cast back to the mid 80s when I was into the output of él Records (Louis Philippe, King of Luxembourg), Michel must have been an inspirational source.
So this batch was £2.50. Besides Polnareff not that interesting. Nina and Frederik turned out to jump all over the place. The 999 record (top left, white) I'd never seen before, and it's quite pedestrian and badly produced. James Voodoo Party is a spare that I picked up for a friend.

------------------------------------------------------"This is Modpowerpopsouljunkierock´n´roll so stop post shit like Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Grace Jones , Led Zeppelin and some other boring blues stuff, that kind of music don´t belong in this group, if I´ll ever see shit like that posted in this group again that person will be banned from this group forever!!!!"

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Synth heavy theme for a film about a helicopter. Totally radical dude! I originally played it at 45 (it's a 12") and thought "crazy"! However it plays at 33 and so the nu funk drum and bass vibe of the 45rpm is lost. From the 80's, probably right up Pitch's street

some times play g+ with back noise,some times vg , super psyché juju lpfront sleeve is very nice vg back vg , but the top corne left is eating buy rats, ask for picture

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Bernard Sjazner, "Superficial Music". An experimental synth LP from 1981, the first side consists of reworkings of tapes orginally made for a project called Visions of Dune (inspired by the Frank Herbert novel). The B side is a heavy, sombre piece, composed in response to the impact of Auschwitz on Sjazner's extended family. He has said: "When I was young I heard my parents speak about my uncle Moszek, who was held in the camp at Beaune la Rolande and then disappeared in Auschwitz. Years later, I tried through music to evoke for others the impressions and sensations of my parents' storytelling."

"As technology has advanced, vinyl records are outdated as they are music from the 19th Century so only hipsters and elderly people buy vinyl records".

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While I watch Le Tour, a quick round-up of twaddle that I've added to the racks in the last few weeks.

Same old sources, chazzas, the evil Bay, Rob's and other shops in Nottingham.

The above selection came from one of my weekly (every Friday, the only day I finish before 17.00), post-work visits to Rob's. As ever, I was lured in to buying Judy Lynn primarily as she looks a minx on the sleeve. The actual music is mostly tepid country/pop, but there's one track that has a decent groove to it, justifying me hanging on to it for further research. Bob Miller and the Miller Men is pure VV / VG+ fare, but was just that bit too parpmongous for me and has been rehomed on the Board. Well known Hammond action from Rhoda Scott, pretty much all about 'Aquarius' though. The Forum Quorum was another of those random punts where the sleeve ticked all the boxes, right era, right haircuts, photo of the Parthenon and some lutes - how could it fail?!! Sadly, though sounding quite a decent combo of garage and psych, it was just lacking a bit of groove and bottom end for me and was duly given away to a Board member who I had a hunch would like it more than me.

When I got home from the Lakes, I didn't quite know what to do with myself without any hills to stomp up and I'd had a week away from vinyl, so I took myself off in to Nottingham and mooched round West Bridgford's charity shops, nipped in to see Rob and also had a look in Music Inn (the jazz shop in West End Arcade). The above quartet all came from Music Inn. If you were only ever to buy one Stan Kenton album (and I'm not saying that you should), this should be the one. Firing big band grooves and one you should be able to find for pennies really. Was sure I'd had this Harry Roche before and let it go but, on hearing 'Warm Punch', I reasoned that I wouldn't have been so daft as to let that tune go (Methinks I just didn't listen to it properly before!). One tracker though eh? Stuart Atkins is one for our Northern correspondents I reckon and I would imagine that many of them have already got this. A cross between big band funk and Working Man's Soul, with one of the best versions of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' you'll ever hear and you would not believe what they've done with 'Ol' Man River' - amazing. Seriously, this was my pleasant surprise find of the month. If you can find a cheap copy, have no hesitation in picking it up. And you'll get bonus points if your copy isn't signed!! I keep picking up copies of this Sandy Brown version of 'Hair' and passing them on for being a bit pedestrian, but I'm mellowing with age and might well come to appreciate it. Will give it another go, but my hopes aren't high.

Top two came from some absent-minded eBay mooching on a rainy day. I was actually searching for Eddy Louiss stuff and found this LP for pennies in a UK seller's store and, while looking for summat to make the postage value for money, I stumbled on the Alan James Eastwood LP, which I decided to snap up after playing a few tracks on Youtube. Very VG+ friendly folky moves, not without a bit of a groove and, strangely, I find that he sounds a bit like Mark Hollis in places - discuss. The bottom two were from that Saturday mooch in Rob's. VV / VG+ classic in 'Take A Break', on which the stand-out track is the closer 'Isn't It Nice To Know', which was apparently used to peddle Cadbury's Dairy Milk back in the days before the new Yank owners decided to use it to coat everything from popcorn to P45s - bunch of twats. I got quite excited when I saw the CMJ LP as I've had their live LP a couple of times (rehomed round these parts I think?) and that has a couple of mod-ish groovers on there, so I thought there must be summat good on a studio recording. No there isn't. Pretty much dreadful and badly recorded at that. Avoid.

First three here were from that same sojourn in Rob's. Spare of John Dankworth 'Off Duty'. The Les Reed DBLP sounded more than passable on needle-drop and I will revisit that soon. As with The Forum Quorum, The Hobbits LP set the Spidey-sense tingling but, as with The Forum Quorum, there's just a missing ingredient - I find it too lightweight and poppy, so will be trading or rehoming it at some point in the near future. Found the lesser-spotted Birds and Brass LP (spare) in a West Bridgford charity shop - the only thing I found in about eight charity shops.

The above selection came from this Friday's post-work mooch. Three from Sue Ryder and one from Rob's. Meet Jesus Music is well-know Xian acid folk type stuff, they seemed to have a fair bit of Xian (Larry Norman, Valley of Achor, Second Chapter of Acts etc) in, of which this was the most left-field item. Thought I'd get the Mendes comp in case there's owt on it that I've not got on the proper LPs - not had time to check yet. Haven't had chance to play the Roger Webb, but I just wanted to hear what he's done with 'Enter The Dragon' - I approach more with fear than excitement. When I was paying for them, the lass said there was a load more vinyl scheduled to go out on Saturday, much of the rest would be reduced by 50%, "Yeah, cheers for telling me that now love!". Summat to do with that area of Nottingham's shops all having a bit of an event on Saturday. Well-know Brit-jazz comp from Rob's - actually looks about the cleanest one I've had, so I think I'll keep this one.

Top two came from a random Nottingham shop that's started stocking vinyl in the basement. Spare of the 'Enter The Dragon' OST, I figure someone out there must need a copy, what with it being a classic and all. Always loved the Ziggy film and felt that the Spiders were as massively underrated as the Dame was overblown (he's a God, but doesn't he know it?!). Been after a cheap copy of this for ages, so was chuffed to pick it up while on my dinner break. 'Width of a Circle' is blistering. One of the best live albums ever. And 'L'Initiation' was another of my eBay moves where I was bidding on Item A, saw this as Item B to give me value for money on the shipping, but made a boo-boo on bidding for Item A and only ended up with this. I need to get more finesse at this tactic as it's costly!! Useful item for trading though, so all is not lost.

Jet Boy stole my baby.

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Nice finds Ben, I have vol 2 of the eddy louiss great band line up and I quite like the 'Millermen' album found it recently but it is proper parpy. You seem to be doing quite well out of the chazzas at the mo. I've resigned myself to never finding a 'birds n brass' or 'spindrift' in the wild. As regards Kenton I think his 'Innovations in Modern Music' album is his best, quite frankly bizarre albeit a bit chin stroking at times.

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Nice ass............................................sorry, I meant to say nice as I was just wondering why Judy's other Amaret album from 1973 is still on my shelves when I was sure I'd put it in the outpile at least twice. A bit of a second division Nancy Sinatra in my book (with a few of Nancy's Wrecking Crew mates in tow usually) although '1927 Kansas City' (which curiously appears on both albums) is a decent song. Bob Miller & The Millermen have been in my outpile for about 20 years....must get round to making the 'out' part of that word operative. I've hung on to 'Take A Break' for ages but largely for the 'Martini' tune which is a good piece of cod Bacharach....and like Amidar, I've never spotted a 'Birds 'N' Brass' in the wild.

'L'Initiation' is a good result though, as long as you didn't pay too much (as I suspect I did), the Patsy Gallant tunes are ace.

Take your point re: 'Ziggy Stardust' - it definitely beats the overly overdubbed 'David Live' and the lukewarm 'Stage' into a cocked hat, but the problem I have with it is that the sound isn't very good and the tunes seem to be upstaged by the drama surrounding the occasion - for the best 'Bowie Live' experience I'd recommend you swallow your pride and get the 'Live Santa Monica '72' CD which I was well chuffed to discover, luxurious box packaging and all, for a mere quid in a chazza a couple of weeks ago - I believe there may be a few vinyl copies knocking about if you must, but it's well worth it whatever...